Under the couch under the bed in the laundry room in the fridge (yes, I did that once) the bathroom on top the refrigerator (my husband does that, and I'm short, so I can't see it there) the toy box (Owen did that, twice)

Wow. That's a lot for one week. Congratulations.

In general, I like kids. But I've met some kids I really did not like. I think a large part of that had to do with their parents. I knew a woman (through a homeschool group) who was kind of pushy and schedule oriented, lacking imagination and uptight. I did not like her oldest child. She was rude, bossy, and snotty. We have a friend Bill, who's son is great. He's quiet, well behaved, polite and respectful. He's nice to both my older children and the younger children. I have a really hard time coping with picky, demanding, whiny, and dramatic kids. I also think that behavior results from how they are raised. So is it the kid I don't like, or the parents? I can tolerate those kids at the park play date, but I wouldn't invite them to a play date at my home.

:iagree:

We felt the same way when we finally watched it.

Let's see... shrieking loudly when you try to read/speak. Pull books of the bookcase. Turn off the dvd player while the 3 1/2 year old watches Letter Factory, causing said 3 1/2 year to FLIP OUT. Wanting to nurse at the most inconvenient moment. POOP, and require immediate attention. Decide he wants a snack. Try to reach up and pull the schoolwork off the table. Those are just the first few that popped into my head. I actually do try to get the bulk of the work done during nap time, but my oldest is a bit of a dawdler. We are working on that.

Other. I would leave my husband in charge of planning and cooking the meal for him and the children. He's perfectly capable. I might give him suggestions of what to make, but that's it. If I'm going out, then it's my night OFF. Anyone local want to go out for an evening?

No, not anymore. I HATE being late. I get ill when I'm late. Nervous, worried, upset stomach, and hot flashes. When I was single I was never late. When it was just my husband and I, we were rarely late, but it did sometimes happen (he has NO concept of time. NONE). With my first child, after the first month or two, I got good at being on time, He was easy to transport, not fussy, very adaptable. The more kids I have, the worse I am about being on time. I do TRY. I try really hard to be on time. I plan ahead, I try to leave extra early. But someone always loses a shoe, pees their pants on the way out the door, throws up on me, or some other disaster occurs. It's really nerve wracking for me. I've actually started writing appointment times down wrong intentionally. I let myself think an event or appointment is for half an hour earlier than it actually is. Sometimes it helps, but sometimes the universe is just plain against me. Right now, I'm actually quite pleased if we are less than 10 minutes late. It's really a big accomplishment for us right now.

If I remember correctly, I paid $250 a month about 16 years ago, to live in my parents home. I did my own laundry and cleaned up after myself. I bought my own toiletries and any groceries I wanted that my parents didn't buy. I paid for my own phone line and auto insurance. I didn't do much around the house simply because I was working long hours. I basically just slept there. I did clean up after myself though. I did help clean up and prepare meals when I ate with the family. If I ate on my own, I washed all my own dishes, cleaned the stove, etc. I had a good job, but would have gone broke renting an apartment and paying my bills. This covered groceries, room rental, and utilities. When I lost that job, due to my position being eliminated and having to take a lower paying job with less hours, my rent went down and my help around the house increased. If the child has a minimum wage job, you don't want to eat up all of his income. The point is to make him responsible for his food and utility costs, without charging him so much that he can never afford to move out.

I'm the same way. But my way around this is one of those lighters with the long nose. I'm fine with that. It's the matches that scare me. I'm fairly afraid of lighting a propane grill. That's okay though, grilling is a man's work!

I would put all the kids in the larger bedroom and myself in the other. I have no issues about siblings of those ages sharing a bedroom. If the 10 year old needs privacy for changing clothes she can always change in your room or the bathroom.

Oh that's a great idea! I'm in NE Ohio, but my children are too young for prom. There's a lot of factors to consider. The biggest issue is the budget. It's going to be hard to book a location and date without a deposit. Where does that money come from? You can't sell tickets to an event that doesn't have a date and location yet. So if you don't already have a fund to help pay for the event, you're pretty stuck. You need to select a date (and there WILL be people whine and cry about the date you choose) You need to choose a location. (people will also whine and cry about this) Will the prom include dinner or not? If you are not planning on dinner, appetizers and soft drinks? If appetizers, are you planning to have parents provide them, or catered? What are you going to do for music? Hire a DJ, or have a parent volunteer to be the DJ? Are you going to have a photographer and do the standard "dance pictures"? Then there's the easy stuff: picking a theme, colors, choosing the food (if there is food). I haven't done this in years, so I may be forgetting something. I used to be an Event Coordinator for a local large business, in my other life. I know the East Side Homeschool Co-Op puts on dances several times a year, open to all homeschoolers, and they usually just use the Kiwanis Lodge in Richmond Heights and have the moms all send in appetizers and beverages. I *think* they get a DJ, but I'm not sure. We've haven't attended one of their dances yet.

I had no idea anyone puts raisins in carrot cake. If I purchased one with raisins (prior to today) I would have been quite surprised.

Due to a short attention span today, I did not read all the replies. I would have gone to the store manager at the time this happened and demanded a replacement of my destroyed materials.

I have a Diva Cup. I don't replace it every year. It's in perfectly good condition.

We do a portfolio assessment for our review each year. I keep that material in a 3 ring binder. When the year is over (after the assessment) I pull the work out of the binder, rubber band it with a cover on it (child's name and school year) and then throw it into a paper box. I figured I should keep some work to show where there are at just in case we ever need it someday. The kids also enjoy looking back at their old work and seeing how they have progressed.

Shiny!

Cheesecake with strawberries of course! I might make dessert once a week. But it feeds us more than one night. A cake or brownies will probably serve for three desserts. A pie we only get two nights out of. Pudding usually only one. Some weeks we don't have dessert at all. My husband and I are both trying to lose weight.

I think your kids sound really cool. My kids would like them.

That's a good idea, and I would do that, except for the fact that I am often "caught by surprise". My cycles have been a bit wonky this past year. I at least know that it got put away, in it's cute little bag, clean. I have a funny story about that bag. I keep it in the medicine cabinet for when I need it, as our linen closet is outside the bathroom. About two years ago, on Easter, one of the kids went to brush their teeth. The child emerged from the bathroom with the pretty flowered Diva Cup bag in hand exclaiming, "The Easter Bunny left us a present in the bathroom!"

I make my bread by hand. I hated my bread machine. I gave it away when we moved from FL to OH. The nice thing about making the bread by hand is that you can make multiple loaves at one time. I can fit about four sandwich sized loaves in my oven (maybe more, but I only have 4 loaf pans).

I couldn't find a store anywhere near me that carried them. I ordered mine online. I had to cut the tip of mine off. It was STABBING me horribly. I wash mine with a baby wash. Our hand soap was scented with moisturizer and umm, that didn't agree with me. I also boil it each month when I'm done.

I often bake the bread on a cookie sheet. It works just fine. I have a lidded Sterilite container that I keep the dough in. It fits fine in my standard size refrigerator.

We don't get sick much. My first 3 children never got sick until age 2. In my 10 years of parenthood we've had 2 cases of flu, and some colds. Maybe 1 per year. Never anything more serious. We've only once had a child sick enough to see a doctor. Our first 4 years we were out and about a lot. Interacting with a lot of people (mostly adults). Now we are home a lot. When we were having weekly play dates we got sick more often. The other family was always sick, and never thought twice about coming over with children that shouldn't have been out socializing. I shudder to think how often we would be sick if the kids attended public school and day care.

I only make my bed on Sunday or on my husband's vacation days. He works nights and usually gets into bed shortly after I get out of it.